Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25,000 award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the UK's independent music venues.
Fender was given the award on mid-October as his new release his work was named the best record of the previous year.
The musician has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role small stages had in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported spaces that were facing imminent closure due to difficulties caused by flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, court cases and sound issues.
Other venues received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that helped artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from shows in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.
He is among several artists to contribute his award winnings to charitable organizations.
When they earned the award in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would give their prize money to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer the artist shared her prize across multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the local youth club that developed their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally 1994 winners they gave their award to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was ample," said artist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
Recently, the MVT shared it had rescued two local spots in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by a national body and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the buildings.
